Child-porn defendant 'depressed'

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A former Melbourne brothel manager who kept more than 10,000 child pornography pictures needed treatment and not jail, a magistrate said yesterday.

Australian Federal Police seized CDs with 10,808 pornographic images, 34 videos and a computer hard drive in a raid on the North Balwyn home of Paul Pick in July last year, Melbourne Magistrates Court heard.

Senior Constable Annmarie Hindle said sexual crime squad analysts found a number of graphics on the hard drive. "Approximately 1900 of these images constituted child pornography."

Defence counsel Paul Galbally said Pick, 45, admitted possessing the pornography, but disputed a second charge of making or producing the images.

The pictures had been downloaded from computer to disc for personal use, he said. "There is no suggestion of dissemination of the material," he said.

Mr Galbally tendered two reports which he said showed his client suffered from major depressive illness and had long-term psychiatric problems.